AN: Thank you for the reviews! There's a lot of mixed reviews answering if Miki should end up with Zero or Kaname, and I love all the feed back I received. Either way though this won't be romance centered, but there will be some.

Warnings: Same as always.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Zero's presence made the air in our house tense, we all were aware that the hunter had been through something horrible and that made everyone hesitant to even laugh around him. Yuuki was the one who tried the hardest to get him to talk, even though I could see that she was confused about how she could help she didn't know how to.

I kept my distance from him, but made sure I was in the same room as Yuuki when she decided to visit him in his room. I knew that he didn't attack her until later on but I couldn't help but hover around.

I liked Zero as a character, but actually being around him as a real-life person was very different. The reality that he was a Level E nagged at my mind, in a few years he'd attack Yuuki and that thought made me more wary of him then I was of Kaname.

Both were unpredictable, but being around us all the time Zero was the main threat. It may sound harsh, and I sympathized for him, but that was a fact.

I watched as Yuuki talked softly to Zero from my place against the wall, arms folded and gaze focused on his every movement. He was harsh to us both and would be for a while until he started gaining affection for Yuuki, for now he was cold and didn't say much which concerned Yuuki so much she stopped training as much as she used to.

"Did you want to come downstairs Zero? I could make you a hot chocolate."

The hunter shook his head and continued to stare at the wall.

Yuuki sent me a helpless look and I pursed my lips. At the moment Zero's mind was focused on what he had witnessed which was making him nearly mute and very unwilling to move from his room. I suspected that he needed something to keep his mind off of the tragedy, maybe he could even join us on a few training sessions.

I paused. That was a good idea, Zero was a hunter so he'd obviously know some moves and could probably keep up with Yuuki and I. Though I was pretty sure he was more experienced since he was born into a hunter family.

"You can join us in the basement in thirty minutes-" I started.

Yuuki continued without a second though."-we're going to be training and I'd be fun to have another person to join in."

Zero's eyes widened and his gaze switched between us for a moment before they hardened and looked away. "Get out."

Yuuki startled at his tone and quickly got up from his bed. "I'm sorry we didn't mean to upset you."

The hunter just turned away.

I felt a spark of protectiveness when Yuuki's eyes turned sad and looked down and took a step forward instinctually. I assumed being twins we reminded Zero of his own who had betrayed him and made their parents get killed, but I couldn't help and want to make sure he didn't lash out at my sister because of it.

Unlike me she had no idea about Ichiru and was probably thinking she said something bad to him and was beating herself up for it. Even if she didn't know what she did wrong Yuuki was always sensitive when it came to peoples feelings.

"Yuuki let's go." I murmured and walked a few steps forward to grab her hand. "I think he needs time to be alone."

She cast one last glance at the hunter before nodding and slowly following me as I walked out of the room.

I didn't know when Zero would open up to at least one of us and become a little more happy, but I hoped it would be soon. Having to be in so much pain was too much for even a grown-up to bare alone, being a child he was exceptionally strong for not freaking out more then he currently was.

"I wish we could help him." Yuuki whispered, eyes dark with sadness as she followed me down the hallway. "He's in so much pain."

"It is always sad to part with those whom you love, but your companions will help you bear that sadness." I replied softly. "It's up to him if he accepts us or not, all we can do is support him as best as we can."

Zero wasn't one to burden someone else with his problems, he'd rather keep them hidden and suffer in silence then ask for help. He was stubborn and put up a cold front, but gentle on the inside. Hopefully that side would take a liking to Yuuki and grow so he wouldn't have to be alone for as long as he was in the Manga.

I was sure he and Yuuki would connect eventually, she was gentle enough to not set him on edge and he'd be able to protect her if needed. In the very least I hoped they would become good friends.

…

..

.

I stared at the sight in front of me, my mind completely blank.

Sitting in front of the fireplace in his room Zero was leaning against the wall, gaze blank as he dug his bloody fingers into the side of his neck. His shirt was stained at the neck-line where the blood had trailed down from the gouges he had made and onto the cloth.

He turned to look at me, eyes emotionless.

"What…are you doing?" I half whispered, staring at him in shock while my brain tried to comprehend what I was seeing.

"It feels disgusting… I can still feel that woman."

I looked down the hallway, hoping to see Yuuki around, but found myself being the only one to witness this.

Honestly I didn't know what to do. Yuuki was supposed to see this, she comforted the hunter with her gentle personality and warm eyes, I certainly wasn't the one who should be here.

But at the same time I couldn't just stand here and watch him do this to himself.

Hesitantly I walked into the room and crouched down in front of him, he kept his eyes locked on me the whole way while he continued to drag his nails into the wounds he created.

I grabbed his hand and forced it away from his skin. "Stop."

He stared at me silently, eyes emotionless but intense as he stared me down.

I met his gaze without a problem and placed his hand on his lap. "What the vampire did to your family is horrible, and I'll never be able to understand what it feels like to lose everything the way you did, but hurting yourself isn't the way to deal with your pain." I placed his hand back on his lap firmly. "Find an anchor and use that to make yourself stronger, I know you don't trust easily but if you can find a way to allow yourself to accept Yuuki and I we are more then ready to support you."

Internally I was really hoping that what I said got through to him, that he was listening to me and would come out of his room at last to talk and eat food with us.

I was no Yuuki, but I needed to try.

Two nights later Zero joined us at the kitchen table, making Cross cry in happiness as he gushed about how happy he was to see the other boy come out of his room.

About a month later they moved out of the small house in the woods and into Cross academy. It was a fair bit bigger then their last house and even had enough rooms that Yuuki and her sister could sleep in separate beds if they so wished.

Which didn't mean much to them, since the first night she tried to sleep alone she ultimately failed and ended up snuggling with her sister because she missed her soothing presence. Miki was her anchor in life, someone she could always count on if things went wrong.

Zero was becoming more social, if that's what she should call what how he acted, he ate dinner with them and talked once in a while but kept to himself a lot of the time. She could sense something had changed between Miki and the boy, the air around them relaxed and her sister didn't look like a cornered animal.

She never understood why her sister acted like that around Zero since he hadn't done anything to endanger them, which was one reason Miki would act defensive around someone, so she just assumed Miki didn't like living around a stranger. Thankfully though her sister calmed down a little, though she still had the hard look in her eyes that only vanished when they were alone.

Their training continued as usual and as it usually ended Yuuki was the one who wore out the fastest. Miki seemed to have endless energy, or her determination to protect those she cherished drove her to push the limits.

In some ways Yuuki was jealous, though she too was determined there was a point she just had to rest for a few moments and catch her breath. Despite being faster then her sister, Yuuki always ended up watching Miki continue to practice the moves Cross taught them with a fierce expression on her face.

Soon after they moved they received a surprise guest.

"Miki, why don't you go see who our guest is?" Cross offered, a small smile playing on his features.

Her sister nodded and got up from the table, her long ponytail waving back and forth gracefully as she walked to the door of the kitchen and looked down the hallway.

Yuuki could tell from her sister's expression who had shown up and glanced hesitantly at Zero who was looking to where Miki was. Nervousness gnawed at her gut, Zero was a vampire hunter and from how Miki was reacting the very person who was visiting was a vampire.

Miki's voice was hard as she said their guests name. "Kaname-sama."

"Kiryuu-kun you should see it with your own eyes, you'll probably be able to tell…" Cross murmured as they all watched a hand gently pat Miki's head.

Yuuki could see the way Miki stiffened, and almost expected her to slap the hand away, unexpectedly though the girl allowed the appendage to travel down and caress her face with a blank expression.

Slowly Miki took a few steps back, allowing the vampire to walk into the kitchen.

Together they looked like a picture, Kaname with his effortless elegance and intense eyes and Miki with her nearly regal aura and cold gaze.

The picture was destroyed though, when Zero jumped up from the table and grabbed a knife, Yuuki only had a moment to realize what he was doing before the hunter was racing toward the two with clear intent in his eyes.

"Onee-sama!"

It happened in a flash, suddenly Miki was standing in front of the Pureblood, eyes narrowed and fierce and then she was sweeping Zero's legs from underneath him, long hair spiraling as she spun, making his body fall to the ground with a loud crash.

Yuuki stared at her sister in surprise, unable to form a sentence.

Zero looked just as shocked and got up from the floor slowly to stare at the girl.

Miki gazed at him without flinching. "I know you have a personal vendetta against Vampires, but this man saved our life, I'm not going to allow you to harm him."

The boy's gaze darkened into a glare and the two didn't back down as they started a silent war between their eyes that made the atmosphere in the kitchen tense until Yuuki could almost feel it.

Suddenly Kaname put a gentle hand on Miki's shoulder, eyes softening just enough that Yuuki was able to notice before his mask slipped back on.

"Miki, it's okay."

Her sister didn't move for a moment, as if making sure that Zero wasn't going to do anything before turning away from Kaname's hand and walking out of the room.

"I'm going to the basement."

Zero watched her go silently before scoffing and passing by Kaname, he sent the Pureblood a dark look before turning the opposite way her sister went and vanishing.

Yuuki looked back and forth between where Miki and Zero had vanished, her heart wanting to comfort them both but not knowing who to go to first.

"Sorry for the unexpected welcoming." Cross finally said, face solemn as he gazed at the Vampire. "I suspected that Zero would react badly but I never thought that Miki would lash out like that."

Yuuki jerked her head toward her father figure. "Miki was just protecting Kaname-sama! She would never hurt someone unless there was a good reason!"

Cross nodded in agreement. "I know, that's why it's so shocking."

Kaname turned his head to look in the direction where Miki and went, his dark eyes unreadable as always. "I'm surprised as well, I was under the impression that she hated my guts."

Yuuki held herself from telling him it was the opposite, she knew that while Miki was wary of Kaname, her sister saw herself responsible to watch over the Pureblood since he had saved them both. She never showed it, but the way she had reacted to Zero was enough to prove that she definitely protective of the older Vampire even if she saw him as dangerous.

"I'm going to check on Zero." She finally said, deciding that her sister probably needed more alone time then the hunter did. "It's nice to see you Kaname-sama."

Yuuki made sure to bow politely before she left and headed the direction Zero had went.

She wasn't quite sure what was happening, but she knew that Zero was in a lot of pain and she'd try her hardest to make it go away.

After our little 'spat' Zero and I's relationship was tense, I knew he hated Vampires with a vengeance and thus disliked me for protecting one but I didn't regret it.

Kaname was dangerous yes, but he was the one who saved us. Even if he only did it since we were his sisters the fact that he protected Yuuki and I was enough of a reason for me to owe him. As a solider my loyalty to those who went out of their way to save me instantly instilled a certain loyalty in me that was hard to break.

I didn't see myself as Kaname's sister, my body may have the same blood as his running through my veins but inside I was a different person. So for him to save me was a big deal for me and something I would never forget.

Even if that meant Zero and I wouldn't be best friends I would make sure to pay Kaname back.

A few months after the hunter and I's stand off we started attending Cross academy and that's when things started changing. Suddenly Yuuki and I were separated and put into different dorms and I was left to try not to worry myself sick over what could be happening to her. I remembered she went through quite a lot of roommates before Kaname finally 'allowed' Sayuri to stay and befriend my sister and that made me nervous.

In a way I understood why he acted the way he did, but otherwise I just found his actions overbearing. This Yuuki wasn't a delicate flower that the cannon one was, my sister had been training for three years under a legendary Vampire hunter and could handle herself. She was still the warm, smiling girl that everyone was used to but she was also more knowledgeable about the world.

I had made sure to explain to her why Zero hated Vampires so much, I told her about the powers Purebloods held in their hands and warned her not to play around in the Night dorms. Yes she was still eleven but this world she lived in wasn't merciless enough to allow a child to be free of it's darkness.

Even Cross Academy had it's moments.

Being so excited over the very attractive students in the Nigh class the girls in our school were rather…protective of the males they saw. I never understood their logic to be honest, but apparently the Night Class belonged to all of them, so if one girl was singled out they were beyond pissed.

Don't ask me, girl logic was never sound to me.

Thanks to Kaname speaking to us once in a while, and Yuuki approaching him in front of a group of girls everyone thought we were hogging him.

And of course that lead to something both satisfying, and well embarrassing.

…

..

.

"Who do you think you are?"

I held back the urge to roll my eyes at the offended tone the girl was taking, as if I was doing something so ridiculous none of them could understand.

Another one placed her hands on her hips. "Just because you're the headmasters daughter doesn't mean you can go trying to seduce Kaname-sama!"

"You better back off!"

I didn't know what to think of my situation. It wasn't the first time that I had been approached by a group of irritated girls, but it was never over something as petty as a guy. Heck I hadn't even been around Kaname that much, it was Yuuki who approached him with shining eyes and a bright smile.

She wasn't as clingy in cannon but still was around him enough that people noticed, and since no one but Cross, Zero and Kaname could tell us apart everyone tended to get us mixed up. Which lead to them approaching me thinking I was my sister.

I supposed that was for the better though, I'd much rather deal with these idiots then have Yuuki be contaminated by their ridiculous obsessions.

"You just want him all to yourself, don't you?"

I held back a twitch. Being the older figure, at least mentally, I had to set an example and not forcibly shut theses girls up. They were just twelve years old for goodness sake, I couldn't beat up a pair of pre-teens because my patience wore out.

I was an adult, I could deal.

"He just pretends to be nice to you," One of them gloated, a smirk on her features. "You're nothing but an annoying fly to him but Kaname-sama is too nice to make you go away!"

"Yeah!"

I rolled my shoulders and counted to ten in my head, thinking of peaceful creeks and gentle music in an attempt to keep my anger at bay. What they were saying wasn't what was irritating me, it was their voices and the thought of Yuuki being targeted by the same thing I was going through that was making me angry.

Yuuki was strong, but she was sensitive when it came to being targeted directly. She was constantly worried about not troubling others and making people feel better that she was weak to ambushes like this.

Just the thought of her being hurt by these girls made my hands curl into fists.

"Honestly you're just a bother to him, always leeching onto him like some sort of parasite. Why don't you do us all a favor and just disappear-"

I heard something inside of me snap, and the memory of reading the chapter where Yuuki gave her life to save Kaname made my hands start to shake.

Calm down, they don't know. You're over-reacting.

My sister was going to give her life to turn our brother into a human, she'd vanish forever and I'd be left alone with a very human aging Kaname and her children.

You're better then this, what would cross say if he heard you fought a group of his students?

Here they were telling my sister to disappear, jealously in their eyes and adoration for a man who could care less for them clouding their minds. They had no idea what the world held for them, what my sister would have to go through and experience.

They're children, they don't know what they're saying.

I lifted my head and looked at the group of girls in front of me. The leader froze, face paling as our eyes met.

"W-what? Y-you got s-something to s-say?" She was visibly frightened but her friends gave her enough courage to stay her ground.

"I wouldn't care if you were targeting me," I replied softly straightening my shoulders slowly. "but the fact that you all wanted to harass my sister with your pathetic words really makes my blood boil."

One of the girls, perhaps the smartest in the bunch, gasped loudly. "You guys didn't make sure that this was Yuuki?!"

They cast glances at each other, frightened whispers being exchanged as they started to understand where they had messed up.

"This is bad, I thought she was acting weirdly."

"What are we going to do? Miki is almost as frightening as Kiriyuu!"

"I heard she can take down grown men with her bare hands!"

I took a step forward making the group turn silent and stare at me with wide eyes like startled deer. I raised my hands and tightened my ponytail keeping my eyes focused on the leader of the pack of hyenas, any sensible thoughts telling me to stop and think clearly was muted by my anger.

It wasn't just over the girls, they had been what finally made me snap, it was just my situation in general. The stress of trying to figure out how to not mess things up and survive in a world with vampires frolicking about had frayed on my nerves.

The level-headed girl was gone for the moment and in her place was a pissed off older sister with a group of irritating flies she could take her anger out on.

I brought my hands and cracked my knuckles and bared my teeth in a parody of a smile. "So, who wants to go first?"

…

..

.

Yuuki pressed the wad of antiseptic harshly onto the wound ignoring the way her sister winced slightly.

"Yuuki."

She ignored her twin as she grabbed a bandage and started to wrap the other girls hand in it. Her face was set into an unusual frown as she held back the urge to reprimand her sister and rant about how foolish she had been.

"Yuuki…I…"

Zero had been the one to pry her sister away from the group of girls, somehow knowing where Miki had been even thought Yuuki was pretty sure they weren't told where her sister was going.

It had been chaos, her sister had been completely feral as she struggled to get out of the silver-haired hunters grip to get at the terrified girls once again. The once composed and regal girl had vanished and in her place was something nearly as terrifying as a vampire.

Yuuki hadn't been able to do anything but stare in shock at her sister as Zero held her in his arms and forced her to stay still. Miki had always been a rock to her, the support she needed when she was troubled so she never thought that her twin could change so drastically.

It was almost frightening.

"I'm…sorry…"

She finally glanced up to look in Miki's eyes, taking in her downcast expression and bruise covered face. Thought Miki was trained she had taken on a group of five girls by herself, she wasn't able to focus on one girl before another had been attacking her as well.

Of course her sister dealt a lot more damage then she received, but Miki was going to be sore for quite a while.

Her sisters appearance, bruised, obviously apologetic and regretful brought something to light Yuuki never fully realized.

Yes Miki was strong person with eyes older then her actual age, yes she was the one who Yuuki looked to in times of need but in the end her sister was human.

Like everyone one else, Vampire or human, her sister had faults. And sometimes they were more obvious then usual, Miki was just very good at hiding them so she could be the sister Yuuki saw her as.

Much like Kaname…

Now that she thought about it, the Pureblood and Miki were similar even thought it wasn't obvious at first. At a distance they were flawless and in an attempt to appease those around them they tried to keep up that mask so others wouldn't look down on them. Miki had a temper Yuuki never knew about while Kaname…

Kaname was dangerous, that much she knew. He was beautiful and kind to them, but in the end he had faults just like everyone else.

Perhaps she should stop idolizing them and allow Miki and Kaname to relax and act like they wished. It wasn't fair that she was forcing an image on them, making them pretend to be perfect when they really weren't.

"You're not mad at me…are you Yuuki?"

Sighing Yuuki put down the first-aid kit and looked into her sisters eyes. "No, I just wished you would have handled the situation differently."

Miki looked down, fists clenching and suddenly Yuuki saw a twelve year old girl in front of her instead of the strong woman she always seemed to be.

"Sorry."

Yuuki reached forward and brought her sister into a tight hug, she felt the other body stiffen for a moment before relaxing in her hold.

"It's okay Onee-sama," She murmured. "I'm not angry at you."

Perhaps it was time she started protecting Miki just as her sister fought to protect her. It was only fair right?

One could only hold so much on their shoulders by themselves before they finally crumbled under the weight.

AN: I hope everyone liked the chapter and thank you all for your patience, I'm going to be on more so be ready for more updates ^^ In this chapter I tried to give Miki some faults in hopes that she'd seem more...real? Or as real as a character can be I suppose.

Anyways sorry for any mistakes.